Recreational vehicles (RV) generally fall into two categories: those that are fully integrated into single use motor homes and those that are more flexible in that the habitable space can be quickly and easily separated from the motivating vehicle, permitting that vehicle's independent operation. In a motor home, a heavy truck or bus chassis is utilized as a foundation on which living accommodations are built. The structure is fully and permanently integrated into a unit that retains this single function. In a more flexible pickup camper or camping trailer, the habitable living space is not permanently attached to the vehicle. A pickup camper is designed to be lifted by jacks off of the truck bed and allow the pickup truck to drive away. Camping trailers are pulled by detachable ball hitches that can be disconnected in seconds to allow a towing vehicle to drive away. A motor home has a comfort and convenience advantage in that all the living space is accessible and usable by the occupants 100% of the time, whether parked or driving. It has the disadvantage that the truck chassis only has one function and cannot provide separate transportation when not used for recreation or when it arrives at a recreation site. The more flexible camper/camping trailer is usable as an independent vehicle, but requires the occupants to remain within the confines of the pickup cab and camper when traveling. The trailer cannot be occupied for legal and safety considerations while moving. This limitation is a significant loss of convenience for vacationers. It restricts access to kitchen, bathroom and bedroom accommodations while moving.
Representative of recreational vehicles which have been previously developed is that shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,619 to Levoyer which discloses a motor vehicle with trailer for camping including a bellows. U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,752 to Cook et al discloses a bellows between a cab and a trailer box. U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,991 to Hathaway, Jr. discloses a bellows between a pickup truck and camper. U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,244 to Miller et al is of general interest for disclosing a camper mounted on a pickup with accessways between the two into the cab section of the pickup. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,802 to Jones discloses a trailer unit for a vehicle including a bellows.
Other representative patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,785,372 to Glatzmeier et al, 4,948,157 to Thudt, 4,762,191 to Hagin et al, 4,518,188 to Witten, 4,504,049 to Straub, 4,503,779 to Chadwick, 4,477,099 to Luyckx, 4,462,628 to Beckmann et al, 4,324,370 to Hagin et al, 4,247,128 to Knapp, 4,157,201 to Collins et al and 3,744,841 to Schmidt. Also of interest are the following foreign patents: WO 91/02672 to Walter, EU 0 631 890 A1 to Koch, DE 43 43 084 to Lenz et al and UK 1,196,077 to Blunt.